Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-11-08
a CUSTOM. OF pAHoMEY.


Mana Serenade.
Evans informed me that in few days
one of the customs. as the Dahomians
call them. was to come of in the court
yard of the palace, and that l could wit
ness IL If | chose / did choose, but 1
wished afterward that had not These
customs. which have existed as long IS
Dahomey has-they claim a thousand
years-are of various kinds, and with
names. The one / was to witness was
called Throwing of the Presents, 9TH
ers, Watering the Kings Graves, The
Feast of the Troubadours, The Day OF
the King" The Milking OF the Palm,
etc
The day came of. Evans, with shud
der, declined to attend He had seen il
the year before. In the center OF the
court yard platform was erected, hung
with silks, velvets and flags, including
that of Dahomey-a white ground, with
figure in black holding aloft a decapitated
head in one hand and a cimiter IN the
other. On this platform stood the King.
surrounded by his mobiles, among whom
had q prominent seat, while below strug-
gled mass of 80, 0O0 or more people, kept
in some order by the woman guard
The affair began by the king personally
throwing into a sliding trench various
packages of goods, consisting Of cottons,
Clothes and cloths, knives, muskets, pipes
and tobacco, all of which were fought
fiercely for by the crowd below. Then
came the grand point-the slaughter.
The victims were brought forth dashed
into boat shaped baskets, in a sitting po-
sition, with knees drawn up to the chin,
and lifted into the slide, from which they
he hall Than
there came a horrible scramble. Thousands
with long and bright knives threw them
selves on the victim and in a moment he
was hacked 10 pieces, as well as were
some of his hackers, the victor being the
one who came off with the head. This
was kept up for three hours, the number
killed amounting TO about 200, until the
crowd below was reeking and smeared
with blood. A more horrible sight was
never witnessed, and it did not lessen the
horror with me to be told that this is not
a mere useless slaughter, as civilized ma
tons suppose, but day OF execution, the
decapitated being criminals. traitors and
prisoners OF war. who have been often
sive political partisans. 1t is the highest
holiday in the year, and the. only one
where much slaughtering is done, and
there is 40 doubt, according TO Mr.
Evans, that the king himself wishes TO
abolish that part of it, but he dares not
That night, perhaps as soother to my
nerves, the king gave Us serenade Dy
his own private band. | was awakened
about midnight by a noise that can com
pare to nothing but thunderstorm in
scales. They ran from high to low, and
got terribly mixed in the middle, 1t was
not really unpleasant, but, like the chm
ing of bells, should be heard at distance
the greater the distance the better, !
sprang to the window, to find that this
band consisted of twenty-five men, each
with log or piece of wood the largest
so heavy that 1t took four men to carry IT,
These were set one end on the ground,
the other supported by a wood trestle, and
beaten on the high end with wood ham
mers, OF all Sizes from the hand hammer
to sledge each stick or log emitting its
sound, but no distinsuishable air result
ing.-J W. Watson in North American